Each of us has a gift to give. Sometimes, especially in the hurly-burly of holiday shopping, we forget that.

Before we pick out our greeting cards, before we stand in line to acquire the latest video game for a loved one, before we feel the familiar frenzy of trying to do too much with too little, we have already given the gift of ourselves.

That gift isn’t wrapped in bright, shiny paper and adorned with bows and ribbons, but it means as much and more than an evanescent pile of presents.

These thoughts came during contemplation of a Barnstable Patriot tradition: a year-end list of well-wished gifts to names in the news. Most of these virtual gifts have expressed appreciation; some, if not literally a lump of coal, have expressed disappointment and encouragement to do better.

But this year feels different. This year, it seems more appropriate to write about what we have received rather than what we want to give.

We are grateful for two kinds of people in our community, the doers and the doubters. The former give the gift of belief that things can be better, and that planning, listening and then acting for the future are important. The latter give the gift of caution, of poking the weak spots in a web of dreams of progress until something more substantial can be woven.

Here’s to the doers and the doubters. Here’s to those who try to build a new fire station in Hyannis and those who pick apart the plans to find every last dime to be saved. Here’s to those who acted to clean up Stewart’s Creek in Hyannis and to those who fought to have the financial burden shared more fairly.

Here’s to the doers who saw problem properties running down quality of life as well as real estate values in our neighborhoods and gave the gift of their time and passion to enact rules to prevent them. Here’s to the doubters whose gift of opposition, much of it intelligent, led to stronger and fairer regulations.

Here’s to the service providers who give the gift of themselves every day in helping the homeless, and here’s to the business and village leaders who doubted the efficacy of the old models and got into the game to build a new one.

On a personal note, here’s to the doers who work at The Barnstable Patriot, believing in advancing the 183-year-old dream of an independent voice for the seven villages. This year, we said farewell to three of them – David Still II, Todd Loveland and Barbara Hennigan – and welcomed Susan Vaughn and Ann Schissler.

And here’s to the doubters, who wonder whether such a voice can survive in a world of mergers and acquisitions. Our only answer is to keep giving ourselves.